Apparatus for drying sheet material



Dec. 15

I. D. PATTERSON APPARATUS FOR DRYING SHEET MATERIAL.

Filed July 51. i922 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 15, `1925.

IAN I). PATTERSON,

COMPANY,

OP AKRON, OHIO, A'ssIGNOR To THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER OP AKRON, OIIIO, A CORPORATION OP OIIIO,

APPARATUS POR DRYING sI-IRET MATERIAL.

Application filed July 31,1922. Serial No. 578,672.

.To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, IAN D. PATTERSON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Akron, Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements lin Apparatus for Drying Sheet lWIateriaL-Of which the following is a specification. y My inventionrelatesof apparatus to drying sheet material,'and it has, forits primary object, the provision of novel means for sealing a chamber, vacuum established therein drying of sheet material which is passed therethrough.

Heretofore, -it has been customary to utilize vacuum driers for treating sheet material, such as paper or fiber compositions or any other material formed by utiliaing liquids to assemble the fibers. In driers of the character designated, difficulty has been experienced in effectively sealing the vacuum chamber in such manner as to permit the passage of sheet material therethrough.

An arrangement has been suggested in which the sheet material is passedbetween engaging stationary fluid iniiated cushions. 'Ihe above described arrangement forms an eHective seal. My present invention differs therefrom in that the air cushions, which prevent the, entry of air to the evacuated chamber, are annular in contour and are mounted uponrollers. The cushions engage both the material entering the chamber an the walls of the chamber, so as to form a sealing contact therebetween.

In the accompanying drawing, F ig. 1 is a cross sectional View of drying apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an Aend elevational view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1.

In the drawings I Show a container 3 in .which are mounted several relatively large heated roller members 4, which are rotatively mounted upon shafts 5 and are connected,

by means of a piping arrangement 7, to a Source of heating fluid. Steam may be employed for heating the rolls'4, the member 6 serving lto distribute the saine, or if gasis used, the member 6 constitutes a burner therefor.l The container 3 is provided with aninlet opening 8 in one wall of the container 4, and an outlet Opening 9 in the opposite wall thereof. The sheet material bearing the reference numeral 10, is led into the drier through the opening 8, passes over adapted to have a` to expedite the" anidler roller, 11, engages with the heated rolls 4 and is dried'thereby, passes overa second idler roller 12, and is withdrawn from the drier through the outlet opening 9.

The chamber 3 is evacuatedby means of conduits 13, yin order to further aid in the drying process. To prevent the admission of air with the material 10, the Opening 8 is provided with two adjacently disposed roller members 14, each of which is provided with a circumferentially extending flexible casing or air bag 15, which-engages the Side of the sheet material 10. The Walls of the opening 8 are inclined and terminatev in arcuate edges 16, which closely engage the arcuate surface of the air bags 15. The air bags 15 serve to so seal the opening 8 as to permit the entry of the sheet material 10, and to prevent the admission of air or gas therewith. In order that materials of different thicknesses or other varying characteristics maybe more efficiently handled, the air bags 15 are inflated to the desired degree, according to the material being treated, before the latter is drawn through the container. l y

The outlet opening 9 is provided with similarly equipped rollers'17, one of which is disposed on each side Of the material 10 to prevent the admission of air through the outlet opening.

The inletL andA outlet-openings 8 and 9 may be of `any desired width, being limited only by the widthv of the container 3, if so desired. I-Iowever, I have found it preferable to support the rollers 14 upon bearings 18 mounted within the container 3, thus providing Arollers slightly shorter in length thanrthe width of the container' 4. Since it is necessary that the rollers engage the entire width of the material 10, and since it is desirable that they engage each other at -the edge of the material,it is essential that the openings 8 and 9 be shorter than the rollers 14, as best illustrated in Fig. 2.

It will be obvious that as material enters through the opening 8 and leaves through the outlet 9, that the rollers 14 and 17 will roll therewith, the air bags thereof making very intimateE contact with the surfaces of the sheet material 10, and with each other at the edges thereof. .Since the friction `of the roller members 1s very small, the danger gible. Inasmuch as the edges of thev inlet mouth and the outlet opening engage air bags rather than the material entering the opening, substantially no friction on the material 10 will result therefrom. The rollersl 14: and 17 may be mechanically driven if desired. If so operated, they must be geared so as to be driven at exactly the same speed as the material l0 moves.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that I have provided an apparatus for sealing openings in an evacuated chamber in which the frictional resistance to the passage of the material therethrough is reduced to a minimum or is en tirely eliminated.

Although I have shown but one form of my invention and have described in detail but a single application thereof, it will be apparent, to `those skilled in the art, that it is not so limited, but that various minor modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention, and, I therefore desire to be limited only by the scope. of the appended claims.

vWhat I claim is:

l. Apparatus for drying sheet material comprising a container having a plurality of openings adapted for the reception of sheet material, and two rotatable flexible members dis osed Within each of the openings, and a a ted to engage the material passing theret rough with `adjustable pressure one on each side.

2. :Apparatus for drying sheet material comprising a container having a plurality of openings adapted for the reeeptionof sheet material, and means for sealing the openings, said means comprising two adjacently disposed rotatable flexible containers having a uid conlined therein.

3.. Apparatus for drying sheet material lcomprising a container having a plurality positely disposed openings therein adapted` for the passage of said material therethrough, means for reducing the atmos pheric pressure within said container, and means for preventing the admission of fluid with the material comprising two flexible air bags so mounted as to rotate about axes and adapted to engage the material entering the opening in, the container and also the edge of the opening.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto -signed my name.

IAN n. PATTERSON. 

